


Back in Black

by StellaLuna365



Category: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Everyone hates Thanos, Gen, He is a swollen plum, He's an overrated grape, Hurt/Comfort, Thanos is the literal worst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24065815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellaLuna365/pseuds/StellaLuna365
Summary: This was not how I wanted to spend my Spring Break. You know, just chilling in Wakanda’s wilderness, fighting some aliens, staying stubbornly away from the giant purple monster Mr. Stark had told me to avoid. Father/Son (slight) Major Peter!whump because I’m horrible.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Back in Black

This was _not_ how I wanted to spend my Spring Break.

I wanted to watch movies. Build Legos with Ned. Hang out with MJ. You know, normal stuff. Maybe go to dinner with my Aunt May, go hang out with Mr. Stark a little. Go on patrol. Annoy Happy. _Normal_ things.

But instead, I’m here. You know, just chilling in Wakanda’s wilderness, fighting some aliens, staying stubbornly away from the giant purple monster Mr. Stark had told me to avoid. I kind of didn’t want to go near him anyways, since he was rumored unstoppable.

“Kid, you doing alright?” Mr. Stark asked over the com. He’d been checking in every once in a while, making sure I was alright.

“I’m good!” I shouted as I slugged an alien in the face.

The fighting was getting harder. All of the Avengers were getting tired, since we were outnumbered like 1,000 to one, not to mention Thanos. I was getting really tired, and these things were no closer to stopping.

“Karen, EFC web,” I said. EFC was my own design. It stood for “electric fence contraption” because every other letter combination was already taken, and that was the only way I could remember. I wanted to set up an electric fence to trap a good number of aliens inside, and then I could finish them off one by one, or at least leave them for someone else to deal with easily.

“EMP webs engaged,” Karen said.

“What, no—Karen, I said _EFC!_ ” But it was too late. I’d already fired.

The high-pitched sound started and spread about a hundred feet before dissipating. I expected the aliens to kill me right there, but instead, they stopped, looking…almost confused, and then they dropped their weapons and clapped their hands over their ears, falling to the ground.

That was…unexpected.

“Karen…what just happened?” I asked, cautiously prodding one with my foot.

“It seems like they were negatively affected by the frequency produced by the EMP,” Karen said. “Based on my analysis, it seems like any extremely loud noise is enough to disable, if not kill, this species. Perhaps it is because Earth vibrates at a different frequency than their home, so artificial frequencies like those affect them adversely.”

“Oh, my God, it’s that movie!” I yelled. I stopped dead in my tracks. “Karen. I have an idea.”

Without elaborating, I took off at a dead sprint. I ran the fastest I’ve ever run in my life. I dove over and slid under the aliens, making a beeline for the Quinjet, not stopping for anything or anyone.

The others were…not up to speed on my plan.

“ _Kid_!” Mr. Stark shouted into the com, sounding pissed. “If you’re running away, I swear to _God_ —”

“I have an idea!” I shouted breathlessly. “Just—Mr. Stark, _trust me_!”

I slid under one more alien, webbing him to the ground for someone to finish off, before I slammed into the Quinjet door, shouting, “Spiderman!”

“Spiderman,” FRIDAY’s voice repeated. “Access granted.”

The door slid open and closed as soon as I’d made it through, just in time for aliens to pile up against the side. The clanging sucked, especially for my enhanced senses, but oh, well. Deal with it, Parker.

“Kid, what are you _doing_?” Clint Barton asked, and I saw him through the big windows, alternating between staring at me incredulously and shooting aliens like there was no tomorrow.

I slammed into the controls, since I’d been running at top speed, and looked around frantically. “Mr. Stark! Does this have a sound button or something? Like a high pitch frequency, interference, anything? _Sirens_?”

“What the— _no_ , Peter! Why the _hell_ would I insert _sound effects_ in a high-tech piece of equipment?” Mr. Stark said. Oh, he was mad. But I knew this would work. I _knew_ it would, and it didn’t matter if the others didn’t believe in me, because I was about to save their asses.

Oh. Lightbulb.

“Mr. Stark! It has speakers, though, right?”

“Yes, of _course_ it has speakers!”

“What’s the loudest song on your playlist?” I asked frantically, setting up the speakers, hearing a pleased whir as the powered on and I turned up the sound as loud as it could go. They’d hear us in _China_.

“ _What_? You seriously want to play _background music_ as we _fight off a hoard of aliens_?” Sam Wilson, Falcon, asked as he took another dive bomb shot at Thanos, who batted at him disinterestedly.

“Kid, just—” Mr. Stark started, sounding exasperated, and disappointed, but at this point, I was fed up.

“Mr. Stark, no disrespect, but _shut up and listen to me!_ What the _hell_ is the loudest song on your playlist?!” I shouted frantically. The banging on the door got louder as the aliens tried to get inside. I jerked around and saw dents appearing in the steel door. Oh, I was screwed.

There was shocked silence on the coms except for the sounds of battle. “Uh,” Mr. Stark said, obviously shocked at how I’d spoken, “it’s…probably ‘Back in Black,’ by ACDC. Kid, what—”

“ _Thank_ you!” I shouted exasperatedly, before scrolling through the playlist I’d pulled up and jamming my finger on the button, then checking the volume to make sure it was up as loud as it could go. The aliens broke through the door just as I did so, clawing at me, ripping through my suit and leaving gashes in my skin. I cried out, but it was fine, because I’d done my job.

The heavy bass thrummed so loud it shook the ground. The aliens stopped clawing at me, instead backing away from the thrumming speakers, confused and in pain. They clutched at their ears, dropping their weapons. It was a quick build, but it was already so loud from Mr. Stark’s industrial speakers that every single alien, the hundreds of thousands in the field, stopped fighting back and clapped their hands over their ears.

Clasping a hand to my side, the biggest bleeder on my person, I grabbed the console and hauled myself up, leaning against the wall, looking through the windows.

“Holy—good God, it’s _working_!” Steve Rogers shouted, slamming his shield into one of the aliens.

This continued for a couple minutes. I watched with a smile as the aliens dropped like flies. Finally, the song hit the climax, the loudest, heaviest part, and the aliens screamed with one voice and dropped like flies.

I stumbled out of the Quinjet’s hole, ripped open by the dead aliens scattered around outside, and held myself up with one hand against the side of the mutilated aircraft. I limped around and leaned against it, watching the fight conclude with a tired smile.

Thor’s fist plowed through the last three or so aliens, just as the song ended and it was relatively quiet again. As Thanos looked around, his purple face dumbfounded and angry, the Avengers gave a cheer. Even if Thanos still had the Infinity Stones, the army, which could easily have overrun Wakanda and the surrounding countries, was gone.

“Kid, you’re a _genius_ ,” Mr. Stark said from where he was still firing repulsors at Thanos, who was…shall we say, _unhappy_. “How’d you know that would _work_?”

“Uh…don’t kill me,” I mumbled tiredly. “Um…they didn’t like the EMP web I shot. It killed a whole bunch of them. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but I remembered that old movie…uh…the one where the aliens’ heads exploded when they heard the grandma’s music, or something.”

“Oh, my God,” Natasha muttered in the coms, even as she fired off a shot at Thanos. It hit him directly in the eye, and he snarled. “He’s talking about _Mars Attacks_. He literally just saved this continent based on a _science-fiction movie_.”

“Kid,” Rhodey said as War Machine circled Thanos. “You’re my new favorite person.”

I huffed a laugh, but my side screamed in pain as I did so. Looking down, I realized a small puddle of blood had formed beneath my feet. Woozily, I slid down until I was sitting, leaning sideways against the Quinjet for support. The Hulk roared in the distance, but I barely heard it.

“Uh…M-Mr. Stark,” I said slowly, my hand shaking as I tried to apply pressure to my side. I was starting to get really scared now. “Uh…I th-think…I might be, uh…b-bleeding out just a little…”

“Wait, what?” Mr. Stark said, and even in the distance, I saw Iron Man stop dead in his flight path and turn his head towards the Quinjet. “Oh, _shit_ , Peter!”

I must have blacked out for a few seconds, because the next thing I knew, Tony Stark was kneeling in front of me, the suit hovering behind him. “Peter, look at me, kiddo. Focus on me, okay?”

He gently removed my mask, tossing it aside. “Shit, you’re pale,” Tony muttered, taking my shoulders and guiding me to lay down. “You’re okay, kid.” He clamped his hands down around my side. I groaned in agony and tried weakly to push him away, but he kept pressing. “I know, kid, I know, but I need to stop the bleeding.”

He took off his shirt, leaving him in just a tank top, and pressed it firmly against the wound. “Stay with me,” he pleaded, his voice cracking. “Guys, where are we on Thanos?! Peter needs medical attention, like, _yesterday_.”

“He’s dodging, but he seems to be moving towards you and Peter gradually,” Vision observed. Thanos may have taken his Infinity Stone, but he could still hold a gun. “I suggest you take Peter and move to safety.”

“I can’t move him,” Tony said, almost desperately. “He’ll bleed out if I do.” 

“T-Tony…” I said, because there was a tickle in the back of my throat, and it felt almost like I was drowning. “I th-think—”

I was cut off as liquid bubbled in the back of my throat, and I coughed it up, tasting the coppery blood as I spit it out to the side, feeling it trail down my chin. Coughing was agony. My lungs burned and my side tore, the ripped flesh moving in ways it wasn’t supposed to.

“Oh, shit,” Tony muttered, eyes wide. “Guys, he needs help _now_!”

“We can’t—oh, dammit.” Scott said from his position on Thanos’ shoulder. I heard static in the com and painfully turned my head to watch Thanos and the Avengers.

Tony jerked around to see why Scott had said that. Thanos roared in rage, brushed off the Avengers surrounding him, and barreled straight for me and Tony.

My breath hitched, and my eyes widened as he got closer. Oh, God, I was going to die. Thanos was going to kill me, and then…Aunt May, _no_ …

Tony didn’t even have time to put his suit back on before Thanos was there. The Avengers were still a few hundred yards away, running (or flying) at top speed, but Thanos knocked Tony away from me like he was a fly. Tony hit a tree hard and collapsed, unconscious. I tried to shout for him, to ask if he was alright, but the words stuck in my throat and turned into another bloody cough.

Thanos picked up the Quinjet in one hand and hurled it at the incoming Avengers, scattering them as they dove for cover. It kept them preoccupied for a few seconds, but that was all Thanos needed.

Thanos wrapped his huge, thick hand around my neck and _squeezed_. My breath instantly stopped, and I panicked. _Oh, God_ , I thought frantically, my pain forgotten as I thrashed. _Forget bleeding out. He’s going to strangle me right here._

“Peter!” Natasha shouted, but Thanos kept his grip on my neck, I clawed at his fingers, but he was…impossibly strong. There was absolutely no way, even on my best day, that I could beat him.

I felt pressure building in my head, my cheeks flushing as my mask-less face contorted, trying desperately to suck in air.

“It was all your doing,” Thanos rumbled, picking me up slightly and slamming me back down on the ground, never releasing his hold on my throat. I distantly felt the ground crack under my back, making the same sound as my ribs when they splintered apart. His hand was huge covering a lot of my upper body. I felt one of my collarbones snap, too. “You destroyed my army! A weak, pitiful creature like _you_!”

The pain was…surreal. I’ve never hurt so much, not in my entire life. I tried to scream, to shout, maybe even to sob, but everything was blocked by the hand around my throat.

“Thanos!” Quill shouted angrily, stalking up closer. I realized the Avengers couldn’t make a move without risking hitting me in the process. “Your fight isn’t with him! Come here, you swollen plum! Bring it on!”

Thanos grinned. “I see the way you’re all hesitating. He’s special, isn’t he? Looks young, too. Is that why you’re trying to protect him?” Thanos taunted, picking me up and holding me in front of himself, facing the Avengers. I basically became a human shield. He loosened his hand a little, just enough to tease me as I gasped, then tightened it again. “Are you going to risk hitting him, too?” His eyes glinted. “You know, fun isn’t something one considers when balancing the universe, but this…” he turned me to him, and I stared at him, pain and fear clouding my vision as I choked and wheezed desperately. “This does put a smile on my face.”

“You sick bastard,” a weak voice interrupted. I saw Tony propping himself up against War Machine, barely able to stand. He had a hand curled around his ribs and a cut on his forehead. “You son of a bitch. Using kids as shields? Fight like a man, you coward.”

Thanos snarled, squeezing me tighter. I was on the brink of unconsciousness at this point. His hand covered my neck and most of my chest, and I could just barely reach my arms up around his fingers. My small hands did nothing to pry his fingers off.

“You’d know, wouldn’t you, Iron Man?” Thanos snarled, shaking me like a ragdoll. I cried out in pain, the sound small and pathetic, just barely gaining any traction in my almost-crushed windpipe. “You did bring him. You’re using children, too.”

Something glinted in the sunlight, blinding me. I squinted, trying to focus. It was the sun reflecting off of Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet. Where the Infinity Stones were.

He was unstoppable. He was too powerful. He was invincible…

…because he had the Infinity Stones.

And they were _right in front of my face_.

I remembered hazily something Quill had said. He was only able to hold it for a few seconds before it had started burning him up, before Gamora and Rocket and Drax had helped him. They could hold it together, but a normal human could only hold it for a few seconds and stay alive.

 _Aunt May_ , I thought, closing my eyes and gasping subconsciously. There was still talking around me, even as I dangled from Thanos’ fist. Tony’s voice. Scott’s voice. Natasha’s voice, Vision, Wanda. Steve, and Bucky, even. Rhodey. Clint. Thor. Quill, Rocket, Drax, Gamora, and Groot, too. T’Challa. Even Hulk was screaming at Thanos. _Aunt May, Tony, I’m sorry_.

I was going to die surrounded by strangers. But hey, these strangers cared about what happened to me, at least.

I looked hazily at Mr. Stark as I gasped a small breath. Thanos was too distracted to squeeze that hard, so I could breathe a little. Wheezing a shallow bit of air, I locked eyes with Mr. Stark. I tried for a smile, but it came out more of a grimace.

“T-Tony,” I whispered, my voice gravelly. I didn’t have anything I wanted to tell him. I just…wanted to call him Tony, once. Because he was more than just Mr. Stark, now. He had been for a while. His face twisted in horror.

“Peter, don’t!” He yelled, trying to lurch forward, restrained by War Machine. Everyone’s eyes, including Thanos’, turned to me just as my right hand closed around the Soul Stone, and my left hand closed around the Mind Stone, and yanked them out of the Infinity Gauntlet.

 _I honestly didn’t think it would be that easy_ , I thought just before the pain consumed me.

You know what I said a few seconds ago? About never having experienced that level of pain? Yeah, scratch that. This was a whole new level.

I was burning alive. There was fire somewhere, and it was consuming me, and just when the pain from the fire started to ebb, someone started freezing me, and it was a vicious cycle that took almost no time to complete. I screamed louder than I think I’ve eve heard anyone scream.

But faintly, I registered someone else screaming, too—Thanos. A wave of energy seemed to leave him as he roared and stumbled, dropping me to the ground, where I landed with a thump. My fists stayed stubbornly closed around the Stones, even as I felt the skin of my palms blister and shrivel. I was still screaming.

Thanos wailed. “You _insects_ will not defeat me! I _refuse_ —”

And then, he was hit in the face with a cannon blast. Probably Quill and Gamora. They liked those.

But the important thing was, he fell. And he _stayed down_.

He stayed down long enough for Thor to release a battle cry that would’ve made every war hero in history melt with jealousy, and even though he didn’t have Mjolnir, his fist made a crater in Thanos’ chest big enough to fit a small boulder.

Thanos didn’t get back up.

But I was still burning alive a little bit.

Voices surrounded me, but they couldn’t get close to me. I was writhing, screaming in agony. Quill had said even holding one Infinity Stone…it should kill a human in a few seconds, and I was holding two. I’d been holding them for at least thirty seconds now, too.

Which stones had I grabbed? The Soul Stone, and…the Mind Stone. _Vision_.

The pain started to ebb a little. I wondered if it was because I was dying. I sure felt like it. I heard people yelling at me, telling me to let go of the stones, but…there was energy swirling around me, maybe because the stones were clashing and creating a vortex of contradictory energy.

“Peter, _please_ , let go!” That was Tony’s voice. He sounded really, really worried.

“Vis—” I gasped, barely able to form a conscious thought, let alone speak. “Vision—”

“Wha—did he say Vision?” Bucky yelled over the swirl. “Vision, get in there!”

Vision, painfully human, stumbled through the vortex and yelled in pain, falling to his knees beside me. Without preamble, I shoved the stone against his forehead. I’d overheard his talk with Mr. Stark—without the Stone, he’d slowly die. I think they’d estimated that he had, like, a year. I’d heard what he’d said—that he’d give anything to stay with Wanda. So, I shoved the Stone into him.

Vision screamed, his back arching. Oh. I hadn’t meant to hurt him. But he quieted down after a minute, blinking fervently in shock, then stumbled back. “It—it worked,” he gasped in amazement.

 _Well, that’s one thing done_ , I thought tiredly.

The other was the Soul Stone. I let it fall out of my hand and into the soft grass. The vortex around me stopped immediately, and then there were at least a dozen people surrounding me, shouting at the top of their lungs, at me, to each other, at each other…my vision blurred as I gazed past them up at the clouds.

The sky was painfully clear. There were…maybe three clouds. And they were tiny. The sky was a rich, deep blue, and I couldn’t see any alien spaceships. The people moving around me frantically faded a little, and I saw this…light, in the sky, and it wasn’t the sun. It was bright, but it didn’t hurt, and it was white. It started as a tiny dot, and then expanded, covering a good portion of the sky.

I felt my breath slowing down. Was this how death happened? It wasn’t so bad.

“—ter! Peter, please, kid, stay with me!”

The figures around me were gone now, totally encompassed by the white light, but voices still filtered in through the ringing. I recognized it, but…what was his name? I couldn’t remember.

“Peter, I can’t…I can’t lose you, kid, _please_.”

The voice cracked into a choked sob. The light pulsed a little, the peaceful glow fading a little. Wait, I didn’t like that. The pain was starting to come back. I reached for the light a little, and the pain started fading again. That was better.

“No, Peter, _no_. Look at _me_ , kid, _please_. Peter, I love you, kid, please don’t leave me. You’re—you’re my kid, Peter, and I never spent enough time with you. I’ll take you wherever you want. We can—we can fix your suit, together. I—I’ll take you to get your first car, maybe—maybe something run down, and we can fix it together. You, you mentioned that once, that you’d like that, right? We can do that. We can do whatever the hell you want, kid, just—just _please_ …”

The light pulsed again, brighter this time, but not in an inviting way. The edges were starting to darken, the light receding. I missed the peace, the solace, but…I looked back from where I’d come. I didn’t know exactly when I’d gotten to…wherever I was, but all I knew was that there was a peaceful, gentle white light in front of me, promising safety and rest, and there was a void of pain behind me. But…the voice was coming from behind me. Who—

 _Tony_.

I remembered the name. It slammed into me and I shuddered with the force of it.

I had Tony. I didn’t want to leave Tony. Tony said he’d…needed me, that he loved me.

I needed to get back. To my…to my _dad_. I turned from the light and ran as fast as I could.

“His vitals are improving,” someone else said, their voice colored with disbelief. “Tony, keep talking to him, it’s working!”

“Oh, my God, Peter,” Tony said desperately, and then I felt the pain full force. It was so horrible, that instead of a glowing light, I saw nothing but black, as everything slowly faded away.

But I felt a pressure on my burned hand. Someone holding it tight. Someone keeping me grounded.

Tony, I thought. Not Mr. Stark, not Iron Man. _Tony_.

He was keeping me alive. Comforted by that, I drifted off.

…

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep_.

“—shouldn’t wake up for a while—”

“let this _happen_ , Stark? I _trusted_ —”

“— _never_ meant for this—May, listen—”

“—outside. You’re disturbing—”

The voices grew louder. There was, like, a shouting match happening right inside my head. It was unpleasant.

Voices came back, followed by feeling. I was really sore, but considering I’d been used as a chew toy for aliens, tossed around like a baseball by a giant purple alien lord, and burned alive by two alien Infinity Stones, I thought I’d be a little more than sore. There was a sharp pain in my elbow. One of my arms was parallel to my body, and the other was folded over my stomach. Something tickled my nose. What was it called…that oxygen thing…oh, a cannula?

“Both of you, _quiet_.” Was that Bruce? Wow, he sounded mad. “You’re are disturbing my patient, and if both of you don’t _shut up_ , I’ll have you removed from the room until you’re calm. I don’t care _who_ you are.” And wow, I’ve never heard such effective shout-whispering before.

Go, Bruce.

A sigh. “I’m sorry, May.” That was Tony.

“We are continuing this later,” May promised angrily, though quieter. There was a pressure on his hand, warm and soft. Long nails trailed lightly over his forehead as they brushed the hair back from his face. “I just…Dr. Banner, he’s been asleep for weeks. When is he going to come around?”

“Any day now,” Bruce said confidently. “His vitals are fine, May, his body just needs time to rest. I know it’s scary to watch, but I promise, he _is_ recovering.”

“I can have specialists flown in at any time,” Tony said hesitantly, like May might go off on him again.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Bruce said thoughtfully. “You may want to start researching some good physical therapists, though.”

This was getting ridiculous. I’d been trying throughout this entire conversation to do _something_ , and I couldn’t even move my _finger_.

Oh, wait, it _moved_!

“Oh, my God,” May whispered. “Peter? Honey, can you hear me?”

“What? What’s wrong?” Tony asked hurriedly, and I heard him hurry across the room until he was holding my other hand.

“He moved, just now,” May said excitedly. “I swear, he did.”

Okay, that’s a good reaction. Let’s try something bigger. I focused all my energy on my eyelids. They stayed stubbornly glued shut, but I managed to flutter them a little.

“Peter?” Tony asked frantically, putting the hand not holding mine on my head. “Kiddo, wake up. We’re right here, you can do it.”

“Keep talking to him,” Bruce said. “His brain waves are becoming more active.”

I pinched my eyes, trying to unstick them. It worked a little, and they opened into slits, then shut violently again. I whimpered in the back of my throat.

“FRIDAY, lights,” Tony said immediately. The glow behind my eyes dimmed.

I opened them again, blinking a couple times, until Tony and May’s faces swam into view. May was crying, sobbing behind her hand. Tony’s face was split in the biggest grin I’d ever seen, and there were tears in his eyes.

Bruce let out a relieved sigh. “Peter, how long have you been awake?”

“Mm…Tony…in trouble, May mad…Bruce…badass…”

Tony barked a laugh, covering his mouth with one hand, shuddering. Bruce grinned wide and long, and May looked so relieved she could cry. Oh, wait, she was crying.

“Glad you think so, Peter. I’ll get the others.” Bruce disappeared silently from the room with a smile on his face.

“You scared me to death,” May said, recaching up to put her hands on either side of my face, leaning her forehead against mine. “You gave me a heart attack, Peter. I almost lost you.”

I opened my mouth to respond, having regained a little motor control, but all that came out was a pitiful croak. Wow, my throat was dry. Apparently I’d used up all my speaking ability a second ago.

Tony got it. He grabbed a glass of water off the table and slipped a warm hand carefully under my neck, tilting me up enough to sip the water. I tried to chug it, but Tony took the cup away periodically. “Slow, or you’ll choke,” he said gently.

He set me gently back down on the pillow when he was done. I licked my chapped lips and said, “Sorry, May.” But it was little more than a hoarse whisper.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” May said quietly. “Just rest.”

Just then, the door burst open, and like a million people filed in. I recognized them as the Avengers and the Guardians. I managed a small smile at their beaming faces.

“Look who decided to wake up!” Clint said, sitting down at the foot of the bed and patting my leg. “How you feeling, kid?”

“Roadkill,” I croaked, earning a little chuckle from everyone.

“Well, you got the shit beat out of you, kid, that’s for sure,” Sam said. “But you saved the world, singlehandedly, so there’s that.”

“Mm…I did?” I asked, my eyes closing on their own. “Saving the world sucks.”

The room filled with laughter. Even May laughed a little. I opened my eyes to slits and landed on Tony’s face. He smiled, not his big, egotistical grin he so often gave, but a soft smile that made his eyes crinkle. I tilted the corners of my mouth up a little.

“C-can we…fix up that car?” I asked, because I really wanted to. Once I was better.

Tony’s eyes widened. “Kid, you…you heard that?”

“Mmhm,” I rasped. “S’the reason I came back.”

The room got really quiet as they listened. Tony looked at the others, looking a little lost. “Came back from where?”

“There was a super bright light,” I croaked, licking my lips again. “It was white, and it…didn’t hurt. Then you started shouting at me. You said…we could fix a car. And my suit. And you asked me not to leave…and so I turned around…and ran back.” I panted a little. Talking this much was exhausting. I felt myself falling asleep. “Love you too…by the way.”

I heard multiple “awwwwws” echo around the room. I was too tired to care.

Tony smiled. Another of those real smiles. I could get used to those. “Love you, kiddo.” He squeezed my hand. “Get some rest, Pete,” he said, brushing my hair back. “We’ll fix up any car you want.”

“Kay,” I whispered as my eyelids fell shut.

I didn’t have to worry about anything. My friends were here. My family would take care of me.

I was home.

**Author's Note:**

> A little one-shot of my boy getting some prime time in Infinity War and FIXING IT to maintain my sanity. Leave a comment / kudos if you enjoyed! Thank you!
> 
> PS if someone could PLEASE comment and help me figure out how on earth to double space the text when I'm posting without doing an "enter" on every single line three times (because that's what happened folks) I will be eternally grateful and write a prompt fic or something as thanks. I'm begging here. It's so tedious.


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